Diversity of Sinorhizobium meliloti from the Central Asian Alfalfa Gene Center.

Sinorhizobium meliloti was isolated from nodules and soil from western Tajikistan, a center of diversity of the host plants (Medicago, Melilotus, and Trigonella species). There was evidence of recombination, but significant disequilibrium, between and within the chromosome and megaplasmids. The most frequent alleles matched those in the published genome sequence.